Touch processing method and electronic device for supporting the same

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a touch screen configured to detect at least one touch event; and a processor configured to determine whether to recognize the at least one touch event as a touch input according to a distance between a location of the at least one touch event and an edge of the touch screen.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to a KoreanPatent Application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office onFeb. 26, 2015 and assigned Serial number 10-2015-0027628, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates generally td processing inputs, and moreparticularly a method and apparatus for processing touch inputsaccording to a distance from an edge of a screen.

2. Description of the Related Art

Electronic devices provide a variety of user interfaces to communicate,with users, information associated with functions or programs executedin the electronic device. Gradually an increasing number of electronicdevices that support touch sensitive surfaces as parts of userinterfaces (e.g., touch screens) have been developed. Meanwhile, alongdevelopments in technology, the sizes of bezel regions of electronicdevices, which support touch screens or displays, have been graduallydecreasing. A bezel region of the electronic device or a portion ofregion of a touch screen connected with the bezel region may include acurved region. For example, in some electronic devices, some edges of atouch screen extend to a rear surface of the electronic device, and theedges extending to the rear surface may have a curved surface.

While a user performs user input using a specific touch object (e.g., astylus or a finger, etc.) through a touch sensor (e.g., a touch screen),another touch object (e.g., another finger or a palm, etc.) may be incontact with or close to the touch sensor.

For example, if the user grips an electronic device, in which there isno bezel region or which has a very small bezel region, a portion ofregion of the touch screen may be in contact with or close to part ofuser's body irrespective of user's intention. Contact with or proximityto a grip of the user may cause, for example, an error, such asnon-recognition of a touch or a multi-touch by user, which is associatedwith a user input.

If a portion of region of the touch screen, for example, an edge regionincludes a curved surface, due to contact or proximity to the touchscreen, which occurs by a grip of the user without user's intention,undesired functions may be executed, while desired functionscorresponding to inputs may not be executed.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure is to address at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentdisclosure is to provide a method and an apparatus for detecting contactor proximity of part of user's body through a touch sensor and modifyingat least part of a touch input corresponding to the contact or proximityaccording to a position where the contact or proximity is detected.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a touch screenconfigured to detect at least one touch event; and a processorconfigured to determine whether to recognize the at least one touchevent as a touch input according to a distance between a location of theat least one touch event and an edge of the touch screen.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method isprovided. The method includes detecting at least one touch event througha touch screen functionally connected with the electronic device; anddetermining whether to recognize the at least one touch event as a touchinput according to a distance between a location of the at least onetouch event and an edge of the touch screen.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing embodiedthereon instructions, when executed by at least one processor, forallowing the at least one processor to perform a method is provided. Themethod includes detecting at least one touch event through a touchscreen functionally connected with the electronic device; anddetermining whether to recognize the at least one touch event as a touchinput according to a distance between a location of the at least onetouch event and an edge of the touch screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice associated with touch processing according to an embodiment anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are drawings illustrating a touch by a grip of a userand setting of an edge region according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an edge region according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an edge region set in adifferent way according to a size or shape of a bezel region accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an edge region set in a different wayaccording to a display mode according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an edge region set in adifferent way for each touch mode or for each application according toan embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating an electronicdevice associated with a touch processing method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice in a network environment according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the present disclosure described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not intendedto be limited to the specific embodiments, and it is understood that thepresent disclosure includes all modifications and/or, equivalents andsubstitutes within the scope and technical range of the presentdisclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbersare used to depict the same or similar elements, features, andstructures.

Herein, the expressions “have”, “may have”, “include”, “comprise”, “mayinclude”, and “may comprise” as used herein, indicate existence ofcorresponding features (e.g., elements such as numeric values,functions, operations, or components) but do not exclude presence ofadditional features.

Herein, the expressions “A or B”, “at least one of A or/and B”, or “oneor more of A or/and B”, etc., as used herein may include any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items. For example,the terms “A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, or “at least one of A orB” may refer to any of (1) a case in which at least one A is included,(2) a case in which at least one B is included, or (3) a case in whichboth of at least one A and at least one B are included.

The expressions such as “1st”, “2nd”; “first”, or “second”, etc., asused herein, may refer to various elements irrespective of the orderand/or priority of the corresponding elements, but do not limit thecorresponding elements. The expressions may be used to distinguish oneelement from another element. For instance, both “a first user device”and “a second user device” indicate different user devices from eachother irrespective of the order and/or priority of the correspondingelements. For example, a first component may be referred to as a secondcomponent and vice versa without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

It will be understood that when an element (e.g., a first element) isreferred to as being “(operatively or communicatively) coupled with/to”or “connected to” another element (e.g., a second element), the firstelement can be directly coupled with/to or connected to the secondelement, or an intervening element (e.g., a third element) may bepresent. By contrast, when an element (e.g., a first element) isreferred to as being “directly coupled with/to” or “directly connectedto” another element (e.g., a second element), it should be understoodthat there are no intervening elements (e.g., a third element).

Depending on the situation, the expression “configured to” used hereinmay be interchangeable with, for example, the expression “suitable for”,“having the capacity to”, “designed to”, “adapted to”, “made to”, or“capable of”. The term “configured to” is not limited to being definedas “specifically designed to” with respect to hardware. Instead, theexpression “a device configured to” may refer to a device that is“capable of” operating together with another device or other components.For example, a “processor configured to perform A, B, and C” may referto a generic-purpose processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) oran application processor) that may perform corresponding operations byexecuting one or more software programs which stores a dedicatedprocessor (e.g., an embedded processor) for performing a correspondingoperation.

Terms used in this specification are used to describe specifiedembodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to limit thescope of the present disclosure. The terms of a singular form mayinclude plural forms unless otherwise specified. Unless otherwisedefined herein, all the terms used herein, which include technical orscientific terms, may have the same definition that is generallyunderstood by a person skilled in the art. It will be further understoodthat terms, which are defined in a dictionary and commonly used, shouldalso be interpreted as is customary in the relevant related art and notin an idealized or overly formal detect unless expressly so definedherein. In some cases, even if terms are defined in the specification,they may not be interpreted to exclude embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosuremay include at least one of, for example, smart phones, tablet personalcomputers (PCs), mobile phones, mobile medical devices, cameras, orwearable devices. Herein, electronic devices may include one or mere ofthe above-mentioned devices. Electronic devices according to embodimentsof the present disclosure may be flexible electronic devices. Also,electronic devices according to embodiments of the present disclosureare not limited to the above-mentioned devices, and may include newelectronic devices according to technological developments.

Hereinafter, electronic devices according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. The term “user” used herein may refer to a person who uses anelectronic device or may refer to a device (e.g., an artificialintelligence electronic device) that uses an electronic device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice associated with touch processing according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic device 100 includes, for example, atouch input module 110 and a touch processing module 130.

The touch input module 110 may include a touch sensor or mayfunctionally connect with a touch sensor, and may detect a touch object(e.g., various objects, including a stylus, a finger, etc., that thetouch sensor is capable of sensing) that is in contact with or close toat least part of the electronic device 100. The term “touch”, as usedherein may refer to at least one of contact or proximity of an objectwith respect to the electronic device 100.

The electronic device 100 may include, for example, a semitransparent oropaque surface, which may detect a touch input, with respect to at leastpart of the touch input module 100. For example, the electronic device100 may detect contact or proximity of an object through a housing thatforms an external appearance of the electronic device 100. The housingmay be made of, for example, one or more of synthetic materials (e.g.,plastic), conductive materials (e.g., metal), glass, ceramics, andminerals. For example, the electronic device 100 may detect contact orproximity of an object through a touch screen. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the touch input module 110 mayconnect with the electronic device 100 by wire or wirelessly throughvarious interfaces, at a location outside of the electronic device 100.

The touch input module 110 may use various technologies to detect atouch object, which may include, for example, one or more of a pressuretype, a resistive type, a capacitive type, an infrared type, an acoustictype, an optical type, a carbon nano tube (CNT) type, and anelectromagnetic induction type. An image sensor, a proximity sensor, ora conductive pattern (e.g., an antenna) installed at a position adjacentto a housing of the electronic device 100 may be used to sense a touchon the electronic device 100.

The capacitive type of touch input is used to detect an input positionbased on a change of capacitance that occurs while an input tool or ahuman body is in contact with a sensing electrode which is formed of aconductive material, for example, an indium thin oxide (ITO) or a metalmesh. The capacitive type may include a mutual capacitance type touchinput and a self-capacitance type touch input. The mutual capacitancetype may be, for example, a type of touch input based on capacitancebetween two electrodes. One electrode may be arranged on a horizontalaxis and another electrode may be arranged on a vertical axis to formsensors of a lattice structure. A change of capacitance at each pointmay be detected by measuring capacitance generated between electrodes.

For example, the self capacitance type of touch input may be such thatelectrodes arranged on the abscissa axis and electrodes arranged on theordinate axis form sensors to be independent of each other. A change ofcapacitance at each point may be detected by measuring capacitancegenerated by each electrode. The touch input module 110 may detect, forexample, contact or proximity of a touch object to at least part of theelectronic device 100 using the mutual capacitance type of touch inputor the self-capacitance type of touch input. According to an embodimentof the present disclosure, the touch input module 110 may detect contactby the touch object using mutual capacitance and may detect proximity bythe touch object using self capacitance.

The touch input module 110 may include, for example, a touch screen. Thetouch screen may include, for example, a separate touch screen module,which may be laminated on a display included in the electronic device100. The touch screen may be integrated into the display using, forexample, in-cell technologies or on-cell technologies. The touch inputmodule 110 may send touch information (i.e., a touch event)corresponding to proximity or contact of a detected touch object (e.g.,a touch coordinate, a touch time, or touch intensity, etc.) to the touchprocessing module 130. The touch event may be a kind of an input signaland may include information (e.g., touch information) associated with atouch. If proximity or contact of a touch object is detected by thetouch input module 110, a touch event including corresponding touchinformation may be sent to the touch processing module 130.

The touch processing module 130 may receive, for example, theinformation (e.g., the touch event) associated with the touch from thetouch input module 110 and may process a touch input. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the touch processing module 130may detect a plurality of user inputs through a surface, and may modifyat least one of the plurality of detected user inputs according topositions where the plurality of user inputs are detected. For example,the touch processing module 130 may change at least one of the quantityof the detected user inputs, an intensity of at least one of thedetected user inputs, and a position where at least one of the detecteduser inputs is detected. The touch processing module 130 may alsocontrol a function associated with the electronic device 100 accordingto the modified user input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchprocessing module 130 may determine whether proximity or contact of atouch object is a valid touch input. If the proximity or contact of thetouch object is an invalid touch input, the touch processing module 130may refrain from controlling the electronic device 100 according to thetouch input. For example, if there is a determination that a contact ofa touch object is a touch by a grip of a user, the touch processingmodule 130 may exclude the touch from inputs for controlling theelectronic device 100 (or may reject the touch).

If the user grips the electronic device 100 with the user's hand, atleast part of user's hand may be in contact with a touch screen. Some ofa plurality of touches detected on the touch screen may be inputsintended by the user, and some of the plurality of touches may be inputsthat are not intended by user. Therefore, the touch processing module130 may distinctively process a touch intended by the user and a touchby a grip of user in a different manner.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchprocessing module 130 may compare a shape or size of an area of acontact (or an area of a proximity) region of the touch with apredetermined shape or size. For example, the touch processing module130 may verify the shape of the contact region of the touch and maydetermine whether the touch is a touch by a grip of the user. If thearea of the contact region of the touch is at least equal to apredetermined size, the touch processing module 130 may determine thetouch as a grip of the user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchprocessing module 130 may analyze touch information (e.g., a touchcoordinate, a touch time, or touch intensity, etc.) and may determinewhether the corresponding touch is a valid touch. For example, the touchprocessing module 130 may extract a touch coordinate from the touchinformation and may verify whether the corresponding touch is input on apredetermined region using the touch coordinate.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchprocessing module 130 may set an edge region (e.g., a left edge region251 and a right edge region 253 of FIG. 2A) corresponding to at leastpart of a region of the touch screen. The touch processing module 130may discriminate a touch by a grip of the user using the edge region.The edge region may be a region that has a high possibility that a touchby a grip of the user will occur, from among regions that may performtouch recognition. For example, the edge region may be a region that isin contact with a touch object (e.g., some of fingers of the user) whena user grips the electronic device 100 and may be set to a region thatis present within a predetermined distance in an inner direction (i.e.,a direction towards an interior) of the electronic device 100 from bothedges of the touch screen. The touch processing module 130 may process atouch input recognized on the edge region according to a state (e.g., asleep mode) of the electronic device 100, a shape (e.g., a shapeaccording to whether an edge is formed with a curved surface) of thetouch screen, a type of an executed application, or a type (e.g., a longpress touch or a multi-touch, etc.) of the touch input recognized on theedge region to be different from a touch input recognized on a regionexcept for the edge region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchprocessing module 130 may detect a touch object that is close to (orhovering over) an edge of the touch screen, and may determine whetherthe user grips the electronic device 100 according to informationassociated with a size, a shape, or sensitivity associated with thedetected touch object. For example, the touch processing module 130 maydetect a touch object which is close to an edge of the touch screenusing self capacitance. The touch processing module 130 may detect thata hand of the user is in contact with or close to the electronic device100, while using at least one electrode column, on at least one of aleft edge region or a right edge region of the touch screen. The touchprocessing module 130 may alternately measure, for example, mutualcapacitance and self capacitance at least once during intervals of apredetermined time. For example, the touch processing module 130 maydetect contact using mutual capacitance and may detect proximity usingself capacitance.

The touch processing module 130 may periodically or intermittentlyactivate, for example, at least one electrode column which is present onan edge of the touch screen in a state where the electronic device 100is in a low power-saving mode (e.g., a sleep mode) and may measure selfcapacitance or mutual capacitance. For example, if a grip of the user isdetected while the electronic device 100 is in a low power-saving mode(e.g., the sleep mode), the touch processing module 130 may sendinformation associated with the grip to a processor (e.g., anapplication processor) of the electronic device 100. If the informationassociated with the grip is received, the processor (e.g., theapplication processor) of the electronic device 100 may be changed froman inactive state to an active state.

To perform the above-mentioned functions, the touch processing module130 may include an edge region setting module 131 and a rejectprocessing module 133.

The edge region setting module 131 may set a portion of region of thetouch screen to an edge region. The edge region may be a set of regionsthat have a high possibility of being touched by a grip of the user. Forexample, the edge region may be located on each of two edges of thetouch screen and may be a region that has a high possibility that someof fingers of the user will be in contact with the region when usergrips the electronic device 100. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the edge region setting module 131 may set the edgeregion in a different way according to a size of a bezel region of theelectronic device 100 or a shape of the touch screen, etc. For example,the edge region setting module 131 may set the edge region to be broaderwhen a size of the bezel region is smaller (e.g., when a width of thebezel region is narrower). The edge region may be set to include, forexample, at least part of a housing of the electronic device 100.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a surface or adisplay region which may perform touch recognition of the electronicdevice 100 may include a curved surface shape. For example, the touchscreen is extended to at least one side (e.g., at least one of a leftside, a right side, an upper side, and a lower side) of the electronicdevice 100, may be bent to have a curvature radius, and may be coupledto the housing of the electronic device 100. For example, if a portionof region of the touch screen includes a curved surface region, the edgeregion setting module 131 may set at least part of the curved surfaceregion to the edge region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the electronicdevice 100 includes a flexible electronic device, the edge regionsetting module 131 may recognize whether the flexible electronic deviceis in a bent state or a flat state and may set the edge region accordingto the recognized state. The edge region setting module 131 may set, forexample, the edge region in a different way according to a degree towhich the flexible electronic device is bent, as well as a bendingposition of the flexible electronic device.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the edge regionsetting module 131 may classify the set edge region into a plurality ofregions. For example, the edge region setting module 131 may classifythe edge region into a touch reject region, a long press reject region,or a multi-touch reject region, etc. sequentially from both end points.The edge region setting module 131 may set areas occupied by theplurality of regions in a different way according to a size of the bezelregion or a shape of the touch screen, etc. For example, the edge regionsetting module 131 may set the touch reject region to be broader whenthe size of the bezel region is smaller (e.g., when the width of thebezel is narrower).

The reject processing module 133 may reject an invalid touch input amonginputs for controlling the electronic device 100. For example, thereject processing module 133 may reject a touch by a grip of the user.If a touch area has a predetermined size or more and if a touch positionis included within an edge region, the touch processing module 130 maydetermine the touch as a grip of the user according to touch informationcorresponding to proximity or contact of a touch object. In this case,the reject processing module 133 may reject the touch in a different wayaccording to the touch position. For example, the reject processingmodule 133 may process the touch in a different way according to a pointwhere the touch is located among the touch reject region, the long pressreject region, or the multi-touch reject region. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, if the touch is located on thetouch reject region, the reject processing module 133 may cancel thetouch or may process the touch as a noise. Also, if the touch is locatedon the long press reject region or the multi-touch reject region, thereject processing module 133 may determine whether the touch is a longpress touch or a multi-touch. If the touch is the long press touch orthe multi-touch, the reject processing module 133 may cancel the touchor may process the touch as a noise.

In this regard, for example, if the touch is determined to be a grip ofthe user, a method of cancelling the touch may be a method in which aninput corresponding to the touch is not processed. Also, for example, ifthe touch is the touch by the grip of the user, a method of processingthe touch as the noise may be a method of processing the touch not to berecognized as a valid touch input by filtering touch intensity amongtouch information corresponding to the touch as intensity (e.g.,intensity of a touch recognized as a valid touch input) of apredetermined level. The reject processing module 133 may cancel a touchor may process the touch as a noise by changing a reference value ofsensitivity for recognizing the touch on at least part of a region ofthe touch screen.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a touch by a grip of a userand setting of an edge region according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2A is an anterior view of an electronic device 200, and FIG. 2B isa side view of the electronic device 200. The electronic device 200according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be, forexample, an electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the electronic device 200 includes a touchscreen 210 and a bezel region (e.g., a left bezel region 231, a rightbezel region 233, an upper bezel region 235; and a lower bezel region237) that connects with the touch screen 210 and supports the touchscreen 210. In addition to these components, the electronic device 200may further include a plurality of function modules (e.g., a homebutton, a speaker, a microphone, or a camera, etc.).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch screen210 may be disposed on a front portion of the electronic device 200. Forexample, a flat region may be disposed in the center of the touch screen210, and a curved surface region may be disposed on at least one ofedges of the flat region. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, a curved surface region isdisposed on a right edge of the touch screen 210. However, an edgeincluding the curved surface region may not be limited thereto. Thecurved surface region may be disposed on each of both side edges of thetouch screen 210. Also, the touch screen 210 may be configured with onlythe flat region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 200 includes a left bezel region 231 and a left edge region 251at a left region of the touch screen 210. The left bezel region 231supports a left edge of the touch screen 210 and may be disposed with adesignated width. The left edge region 251 may be disposed within apredetermined distance in an inner direction (i.e., a direction towardsan interior) of the touch screen 210 from the left bezel region 231. Theelectronic device 200 also includes a right bezel region 233 and a rightedge region 253 at a right region of the touch screen 210. The rightbezel region 233 may support a right edge of the touch screen 210 andmay be disposed with a designated width. The right edge region 253 maybe disposed within a predetermined distance in an inner direction of thetouch screen 210 from the right bezel region 233.

The left bezel region 231 and the left edge region 251 may be includedin the flat region of the touch screen 210. A right curved surfaceregion of the touch screen 210 may include, for example, the right bezelregion 233 and the right edge region 253. The right bezel region 233 andthe right edge region 253 may have a same curvature or a differentcurvature from each other. The electronic device 200 includes the upperbezel region 235 at an upper side of the touch screen 210 and the lowerbezel region 237 at a lower side of the touch screen 210.

The touch screen 210 may receive an input by proximity or contact of atouch object and may display objects as a function of an applicationprogram or an operating system (OS) installed in the electronic device200 is performed. For example, the touch screen 210 may receive a touchinput from a user of the electronic device 200 and may display a varietyof content (e.g., images, text, or videos, etc.) to user.

A bezel region that connects with the touch screen 210 and supports thetouch screen 210 may be formed of the upper bezel region 235, the lowerbezel region 237, the left bezel region 231, and the right bezel region233. Each of the upper bezel region 235 and the lower bezel region 237may include an opening to expose each of the function modules to anexterior of the electronic device 200, and may support each of thefunction modules. For example, a receiver may be disposed in a center ofthe upper bezel region 235, and a proximity sensor and a camera may bedisposed at a right side of the receiver. Also, a home button may bedisposed at a designated region of a central portion of the lower bezelregion 237. Positions of the function modules (e.g., the receiver, theproximity sensor, the camera, or the home button, etc.) may be changedaccording to a manner in which the electronic device 200 ismanufactured.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the upper bezelregion 235 and the lower bezel region 237 may be formed to be relativelybroader than the left bezel region 231 and the right bezel region 233.If a display mode is a landscape mode (e.g., a display mode in a statewhere a screen of the electronic device 200 rotates at an angle of 90degrees in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction from theorientation depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B), the upper bezel region 235 andthe lower bezel region 237 may be gripped by the user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the user gripsthe electronic device 200, structurally or generally, part of the bodyof the user may be in contact with or close to the left bezel region 231and the right bezel region 233. For example, the electronic device 200may be structurally formed such that its longitudinal length is longerthan its transverse length. Also, the transverse length of theelectronic device 200 may be set to provide a comfortable sense of agrip of the user when user grips the electronic device 200 with onehand. In using the electronic device 200, the user may grip, forexample, the electronic device 200 with one hand and may perform aninput operation (e.g., a touch input) with the other hand. If the usergrips the electronic device 200 with one hand, at least part of the handof the user may be in contact with or close to the left bezel region 231and the right bezel region 233.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the user gripsthe electronic device 200 using an operation of holding the left bezelregion 231 and the right bezel region 233, for example, some of user'sfingers may be in contact with the touch screen 210. For example, asshown in FIG. 2A, if the user grips the electronic device 200 withuser's left hand, part of user's thumb may be in contact with part(e.g., a region 271) of a left edge of the touch screen 210. Some of theother fingers, except for the user's thumb, may also be in contact withpart (e.g., a region 273 and a region 275) of a right edge of the touchscreen 210.

For example, the region 271 covers a portion of an upper side of theleft bezel region 231 and may include at least some other regions of theleft edge region 251 connected with the portion of the upper side. Theregion 271 may be, for example, included in at least one of the leftedge region 251 or the left bezel region 231. In addition to the region271, at least one of a region adjacent to the region 271, a portion of alower side of the left bezel region 231, or a region including a portionof the left edge region 251 connected with the portion of the lower sidemay be further in contact with part of the user's thumb or part ofuser's palm connected with the thumb.

For example, the regions 273 and 275 cover a portion of a lower side ofthe right bezel region 233 and may include at least some other regionsof the right edge region 253 connected with the portion of the lowerside. Also, the regions 273 and 275 may be included in, for example, atleast one of the right edge region 253 and the right edge region 253.Additionally or alternatively, at least one region may be further incontact with the right edge region 253. The above-mentioned regions 271,273, and 275 may be points where a touch which is not intended by theuser is detected and may cause a touch error.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 200 may set an edge region (e.g., the left edge region 251 andthe right edge region 253), may determine whether a touch inputrecognized on the edge region is a touch input by a grip of the user,and may reject the touch input if the touch input is the touch by thegrip. For example, the electronic device 200 may prevent a touch inputrecognized on a portion (e.g., the regions 271, 273, and 275) of theedge region from being processed as a valid touch input. The electronicdevice 200 may set the edge region to include regions (e.g., the regions271, 273, and 275) that have a high possibility of being touched while auser grips the electronic device 200. The electronic device 200 mayreject a touch input included in the edge region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a portion ofregion of the touch screen 210 of the electronic device 200, in whichthere is almost no bezel region or which connects with a bezel region,may be formed with a curved surface. For example, some of edges of thetouch screen 210 may be extended to a rear surface of the electronicdevice 200, and a surface extended to the rear surface may be formed inthe form of a curved surface. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, a right edge of thetouch screen 210 is formed with a curved surface. However, a regionformed with the curved surface may not be limited thereto. All of bothside edges of the touch screen 210 of the electronic device 200 may beformed with a curved surface.

None of the left bezel region 231, the right bezel region 233, the upperbezel region 235, and the lower bezel region 237 connects with both sideedges of the touch screen 210 and support the touch screen 210.Accordingly, the electronic device 200 may set an area of the edgeregion in a different way according to a size of the bezel region or ashape of the touch screen 210, etc. For example, the electronic device200 may set a width of the edge region to increase a width of the bezelregion decreases. Also, if the touch screen 210 has a curved surface,the electronic device 200 may set the edge region to be relativelybroader than if the touch screen 210 is flat. According to an embodimentof the present disclosure, if the touch screen 210 includes a curvedsurface region, the electronic device 200 may set at least part of thecurved surface region to the edge region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the touchscreen 210 includes a curved surface region as at least part of thetouch screen 210, the electronic device 200 may selectively reject atouch input of the curved surface region. The electronic device 200 mayselectively reject a touch input of the curved surface region accordingto an output state of the touch screen 210 (or a display). For example,when outputting an object (e.g., a notification function icon, etc.) toset to perform a predetermined function on the curved surface region(e.g., the left edge region 251 or the right edge region 253) in a statewhere a screen is not output on a front region (e.g., a region exceptfor the right edge region 251 and the right edge region 253) of thetouch screen 210, the electronic device 200 may process a touch input ofthe curved surface region as a valid input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a screen isoutput on the front region of the touch screen 210 or if an objectoutput on the curved surface region is not set to perform apredetermined function, the electronic device 200 may reject a touch onthe curved surface region. For example, the electronic device 200 maycancel a touch input of the curved surface region, may process the touchinput of the curved surface region as a noise, or may initialize touchintensity corresponding to the touch input. A method of initializing thetouch intensity may include processing the touch intensity as aninitialization value (e.g., zero (0) or a value of a state where a touchobject is not detected, etc.). Accordingly, the electronic device 200may prevent touch information corresponding to another touch input whichoccurs on a point adjacent to the touch input from being changed by thetouch input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 200 may accept or reject a touch input on an edge region of theelectronic device 200 according to a type of an application executed inthe electronic device 200, an operation mode (e.g., a lock mode, asecure mode, a docking mode, a power mode, or a car mode, etc.) of theelectronic device 200, or information about whether the electronicdevice connects with another electronic device. The lock mode mayinclude a lock state or an unlock state for at least some of functionsof the electronic device 200. For example, the electronic device 200 mayaccept an input on an edge region in the lock state and may reject theinput on the edge region in the unlock state.

The secure mode may include, for example, a state where an enterprisesecurity solution (e.g., SAMSUNG KNOX™ enterprise security solution) isexecuted in the electronic device 200. For example, the electronicdevice 200 may display information (e.g., a received notification)associated with a business e-mail on an edge region, may authorize aninput for the information if the electronic device 200 is located insidean office, and may reject the input for the information if theelectronic device 200 is located outside the office. A docking mode mayinclude, for example, a state in which the electronic device 200 isoperatively coupled to a device such as a docking audio, a dockingspeaker, or a docking station. For example, the electronic device 200may accept a touch on an edge region as an input for controlling theelectronic device 200 while the electronic device 200 is mounted on adocking speaker.

The power mode may include, for example, at least one of a sleep mode, apower-saving mode, or an ultra power-saving mode. For example, if theremaining power of the electronic device 200 is not greater than apredetermined level, the electronic device 200 may stop detecting a gripan edge region. The car mode may be, for example, a state in which theelectronic device 200 outputs a user interface provided to be used in acar. For example, the electronic device 200 may stop detecting a gripusing an edge region if the electronic device 200 operates in the carmode.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 200 may selectively reject a touch input of an edge region (e.g.,a curved surface region) for each application. For example, if a callreceive event occurs in a sleep state, the electronic device 200 maydisplay objects corresponding to the call receive event on just a curvedsurface region or the entire touch screen 210. In this case, theelectronic device 200 may process a touch input of the curved surfaceregion as a valid input. Also, if a call approval event occurs, theelectronic device 200 may display objects corresponding to the callapproval event. For example, the electronic device 200 may reject atouch input of the curved surface region. The electronic device 200 mayselectively reject a touch input of the curved surface region in arespective a predetermined manner for each application.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 200 may accept or refrain from controlling the electronic device200 according to a touch input on an edge region according to aconfiguration of a user interface (e.g., a menu or an icon, etc.)provided by an application. For example, the electronic device 200 maydetermine whether to reject controlling the electronic device 200according to detected contact or proximity of an object with respect toan edge region according to whether a user interface associated with anapplication executed in the electronic device 200 is present on an edgeregion, a size of a menu or icon, or a distance between menus or icons,etc.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if an applicationexecuted in the electronic device 200 is a camera application, theelectronic device 200 may accept an input on an edge region as an inputfor controlling the electronic device 200. For example, if anapplication executed in the electronic device 200 is a video playapplication, the electronic device 200 may reject an input on an edgeregion.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 200 may have touch screens at two surfaces (e.g., a front surfaceand a rear surface). For example, the electronic device 200 maydetermine whether the user is gripping the electronic device 200,according to a touch detected through a touch screen located on anopposite surface of the touch screen 210. For example, the electronicdevice 200 may reject a touch input, detected on at least one of thetouch screen located on the opposite surface (hereinafter, a “rearsurface”) of the touch screen 210, a left edge region, or a right edgeregion, among inputs for controlling the electronic device 200. Theelectronic device 200 may control (e.g., activate, inactivate, turn on,turn off, or change brightness) a front or rear display according to atouch detected on at least one of the touch screen located on the rearsurface, the left edge region, or the right edge region.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an edge region according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, an electronic device (e.g., an electronic device100 of FIG. 1 or an electronic device 200 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B) mayset a portion of region of a touch screen 310 to an edge region. Thetouch screen 310 according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay be a touch screen 210 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The edge region maybe a reference region for rejecting a touch from a grip of the user. Forexample, the electronic device may determine a touch input included inthe edge region as a touch from a grip of the user and may reject thecorresponding touch.

The edge region may be used for detecting a grip of the user and mayinclude, for example, a touch reject region including a left touchreject region 311 and a right touch reject region 313, a long pressreject region including a left long press reject region 331 and a rightlong press reject region 333, and a multi-touch reject region includinga left multi-touch reject region 351 and a right multi-touch rejectregion 353. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, theleft touch reject region 311, the left long press reject region 331, andthe left multi-touch reject region 351 may include, for example, atleast one of a left edge region 251 and a left bezel region 231 shown inFIG. 2A. The right touch reject region 313, the right long press rejectregion 333, and the right multi-touch reject region 353 may include, forexample, at least one of a right edge region 253 and a right bezelregion 233 shown in FIG. 2A.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of theregions may include another region. The multi-touch reject regions 351and 353 may be set to include, for example, at least one of the longpress reject regions 331 and 333 and the touch reject regions 311 and313. The long press reject regions 331 and 333 may be set to include,for example, the touch reject regions 311 and 313. For example, a sizeof the edge region may be set according to a size of an electrode orcell for detecting a touch on the touch screen 310.

A touch processing module 130 of FIG. 1 may determine a touch, detectedwithin a region included in the touch reject regions 311 and 313 (e.g.,within about 0.5 mm from an outermost point of the touch screen 310), asa touch from a grip of the user. Alternatively, for example, the touchprocessing module 130 may control the touch screen 310 not to detect atouch on the touch reject region. The touch processing module 130 maydetermine, for example, a touch, detected for at least a predeterminedtime (e.g., about one second or more) on a region included in the longpress reject regions 331 and 333 (e.g., between about 0.5 mm to about1.3 mm from the outermost point of the touch screen 310), as a touchfrom a grip of the user. For example, if a plurality of touches isdetected on a region included in the multi-touch reject regions 351 and353 (e.g., between about 0.5 mm to about 4 mm from the outermost pointof the touch screen 310), the touch processing module 130 may determinethe plurality of touches as a touch from a grip of the user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if at least threetouches are detected in the multi-touch reject regions 351 and 353, theelectronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 may determine that the user isgripping the electronic device and may exclude at least one of the atleast three touches from inputs to the electronic device 100. If atleast one touch is detected on the left multi-touch reject region 351and if at least two touches are detected on the right multi-touch rejectregion 353, the electronic device 100 may determine that the user isgripping the electronic device, and may exclude at least one of the atleast three touches from inputs to the electronic device 100.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may classify the edge region into the touch reject regionincluding the left touch reject region 311 and the right touch rejectregion 313, the long press reject region including the left long pressreject region 331 and the right long press reject region 333, themulti-touch reject region including the left multi-touch reject region351 and the right multi-touch reject region 353, etc. sequentially fromboth end points of the electronic device. The electronic device may moreaccurately process a touch by a grip of the user by selectivelyprocessing a touch input according to the classified regions.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a specifictouch occurs within the touch rejection region including the left touchreject region 311 and the right touch reject region 313, the electronicdevice may cancel the touch or may process the touch as a noise.Alternatively, if the touch occurs within the touch rejection regionincluding the left touch reject region 311 and the right touch rejectregion 313, the electronic device may initialize a touch intensity(e.g., sensitivity) among touch information corresponding to the touch.A method of initializing the touch intensity may be performed to excludea combination of the touch and another touch that occurs at a pointadjacent to the touch. For example, when using a capacitive touch inputtype, the electronic device 100 may process a first touch input, locatedwithin the touch reject region including the left touch reject region311 and the right touch reject region 313, as an invalid input.

For example, if a second touch input that is not located within thetouch reject region and is adjacent to the first touch input occurssimultaneously with the first touch input or occurs at intervals of apredetermined time, the electronic device may process the second touchinput as a valid input. In this case, a level of a capacitance changemeasured by the second touch input, i.e., touch intensity may becombined with touch intensity that occurs by the first touch input to bemeasured. This phenomenon may cause a touch processing error ofrecognizing a touch, which is not intended by the user, as a validinput. The electronic device may process touch intensity correspondingto the first touch input as an initialization value (e.g., zero (0) or avalue of a state where a touch object is not detected) not to becombined a touch intensity corresponding to the second touch input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the touchoccurs within the long press reject region including the left long pressreject region 331 and the right long press reject region 333, theelectronic device may determine whether the touch is a long press touchaccording to a duration of the touch. For example, if a touch iscontinuously input for at least a predetermined time, the electronicdevice may determine the touch as a long press touch. Alternatively, theelectronic device may receive an input signal, for providing anotification that the touch is a long press touch, if the touch is inputfor at least a predetermined time, from a touch input module (e.g., atouch input module 110 of FIG. 1) or an event management module, etc. Ifthe touch is verified as a long press touch, the electronic device maycancel the touch or may process the touch as noise. Alternatively, theelectronic device may initialize a touch intensity corresponding to thetouch.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a first touchoccurs within the multi-touch reject region including the leftmulti-touch reject region 351 and the right multi-touch reject region353, the electronic device may verify whether a second touch is alsooccurring simultaneously with the first touch. For example, if a secondtouch occurs while the first touch is input, the electronic device mayrecognize the first and second touches as a multi-touch. If amulti-touch is recognized, the electronic device may cancel themulti-touch or may process the multi-touch as noise. Alternatively, if amulti-touch is detected, the electronic device may initialize a touchintensity corresponding to the multi-touch.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may set an area of the touch reject region including the lefttouch reject region 311 and the right touch reject region 313, the longpress reject region including the left long press reject region 331 andthe right long press reject region 333, the multi-touch reject regionincluding the left multi-touch reject region 351 and the rightmulti-touch reject region 353, etc. in a different manner according to asize of a bezel region or a shape of the touch screen 310, etc. Forexample, the electronic device 100 may increase a width of a touchreject region as a width of the bezel region decreases. Also, if thetouch screen 310 has a curved surface, the electronic device 100 may setthe touch reject region including the left touch reject region 311 andthe right touch reject region 31 to be relatively broader than a widththat would be set if the touch screen 310 was flat. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, since the electronic deviceclassifies a set edge region into a plurality of regions, if the touchreject region is set to be broader, the electronic device 100 may setthe long press reject region including the left long press reject region331 and the right long press reject region 333 and the multi-touchreject region including the left multi-touch reject region 351 and theright multi-touch reject region 353 to be relatively narrower.Alternatively, the electronic device 100 may set the edge region to bebroader near a region where the touch reject region is set to bebroader.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, sizes of bezelregions formed at both side edges of the electronic device may bedifferent from each other, or both side shapes of the touch screen 310may be different from each other. For example, only a right edge of thetouch screen 310 (e.g., a touch screen 210 shown in FIG. 2A) of theelectronic device 200 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B may be formed with acurved surface. In this case, the electronic device may set the rightedge region (e.g., the right touch reject region 313, the right longpress reject region 333, and the right multi-touch reject region 353) tobe relatively broader than the left edge region (e.g., the left touchreject region 311, the left long press reject region 331, and the leftmulti-touch reject region 351). The electronic device may also set theright touch reject region 313 to be relatively broader than the lefttouch reject region 311.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an edge region set in adifferent way according to a size or shape of a bezel region accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4A is an anterior viewof an electronic device 400, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view of theelectronic device 400. The electronic device 400 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may be an electronic device 100shown in FIG. 1 or an electronic device 200 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, both side edges of a touch screen 410 ofthe electronic device 400 may be formed with a curved surface. Accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, an upper and a lower edge ofthe electronic device 400 each include a curved surface shape. There isno bezel region at both side edges of the electronic device 400.Therefore, when a user grips the electronic device 400, a user may touchsome regions (e.g., regions 471, 473, and 475) of both side edges of thetouch screen 410. Therefore, the electronic device 400 has an edgeregion including a left edge region 451 and a right edge region 453 setto be relatively broader than the edge region would be set if there werebezel regions at the both side edges of the electronic device 400.

The electronic device 400 does not include a left or right bezel region.For example, the touch screen 410 is supported by an upper bezel region435, a lower bezel region 437, and a cover (e.g., a rear cover or abattery cover) disposed on a rear surface of the electronic device 400.Each of the upper bezel region 435 and the lower bezel region 437 mayconnect with a curved surface region included in each of both side edgesof the touch screen 437, and a portion which supports the curved surfaceregion may be formed with a curved surface at the same curvature or adifferent curvature as or from that of the curved surface region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 400 may set the edge region including the left edge region 451and the right edge region 453 according to body information such as athickness or length of a finger of a user. For example, if the usermainly grips the electronic device 400 with the user's left hand, theelectronic device 400 may set the left edge region 451 using a thicknessor length, etc. of the user's left thumb. Also, if the user mainly gripsthe electronic device 400 with the user's left hand, the electronicdevice 400 may set the right edge region 453 using a thickness orlength, etc. of each of the user's fingers (except for the user's leftthumb), and vice versa. For example, if the user mainly grips theelectronic device 400 with user's right hand, the electronic device 400may set the right edge region 453 using a thickness or length, etc. ofthe user's right thumb and may set the left edge region 451 using athickness or length, etc. of each of the user's fingers (except for theuser's right thumb). In this regard, the electronic device 400 mayreceive body information, such as a kind of a hand mainly gripped by theuser and a thick or length, etc. of each of fingers of a correspondinghand, from the user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 400 may accumulate information of regions, touched when the usergrips the electronic device 400, during a predetermined period of timeand may set edge regions according to the information of the regions.For example, the electronic device 400 may set the edge region includingthe left edge region 451 and the right edge region 453 to include all ofcorresponding coordinates using coordinate information of regionstouched when the user grips the electronic device 400. Alternatively,the electronic device 400 may set the edge region including the leftedge region 451 and the right edge region 453 to include coordinates ofregions which have relatively high frequency using frequency of regionstouched when the user grips the electronic device 400. The electronicdevice 400 may guide the user to grip the electronic device 400 one ormore times and set the edge region according to information of regionstouched through the performed grip operation. In this regard, theelectronic device 400 may output a display object (e.g., a pop-upobject) or voice information for guiding the user to grip the electronicdevice 400 one or more times.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a portion ofregion of the touch screen 410 includes a curved surface region, theelectronic device 400 may set the curved surface region of the touchscreen 410 to an edge region. For example, the electronic device 400 mayset a region, from a point where the touch screen 410 is started to beformed with a curved surface from a flat region and to a point where thetouch screen 410 is ended to be formed with the curved surface, as theedge region.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an edge region set in a different wayaccording to a display mode according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. An electronic device 500 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may be the electronic device 200 shown in FIGS. 2Aand 2B or an electronic device 400 shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Referring to FIG. 5, the electronic device 500 includes a touch screen510, a bezel region including an upper bezel region 533 and a lowerbezel region 531, the bezel region connecting with the touch screen 510and supporting the touch screen 510, and a cover that connects with thetouch screen 510 and supports the touch screen 510. The upper bezelregion 533 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may bethe upper bezel region 235 shown in FIG. 2A or the upper bezel region435 shown in FIG. 4A. The lower bezel region 531 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may be the lower bezel region 237shown in FIG. 2A or the lower bezel region 437 shown in FIG. 4A.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 500 may display a screen in a different manner according to adisplay mode. For example, in general, the electronic device 500 maydisplay a screen in a longitudinal mode (i.e., a portrait mode) in whichis a display mode set such a shorter side of the touch screen 510 isoriented substantially horizontally relative to a user's line of sight.Also, if the electronic device 500 in the longitudinal mode is rotatedthe electronic device at an angle of about 90 degrees in a clockwise orcounterclockwise direction, the electronic device 500 may display ascreen in a landscape mode set such that a longer side of the display isoriented substantially horizontally relative to a user's line of sight.For example, the electronic device 500 may change a direction of animage displayed on a screen according to a relative position of the userto the electronic device 500 to display the image. In FIG. 5, thedisplay mode of the electronic device 500 is the landscape mode.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the electronicdevice 500 is used in the landscape mode, in general, the user may gripthe upper bezel region 533 and the lower bezel region 531 with both ofthe user's hands. Therefore, if the user grips the electronic device 500in the longitudinal mode, a touch which occurs on a portion of a regionof the touch screen 510 may not be touched in the landscape mode. Forexample, if the display mode is the landscape mode, regions touched(e.g., regions 551 and 553) by a grip of the user may not depart fromthe upper bezel region 533 and the lower bezel region 531.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the displaymode is the landscape mode, the electronic device 500 may not set anedge region (e.g., an edge region (e.g., a left edge region 251 and aright edge region 253) shown in FIG. 2A). For example, the electronicdevice 500 may accept a touch input on a region in the landscape modewith respect to the region set to reject the touch input in thelongitudinal mode. Additionally or alternatively, if the display mode isthe landscape mode, the electronic device 500 may set the edge region tobe relatively narrower than if the display mode is the longitudinalmode.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 500 may have a touch sensor in at least one of the upper bezelregion 533 or the lower bezel region 531, and the electronic device 500may set at least one of the upper bezel region 533 or the lower bezelregion 531 to an edge region and may reject a touch, detected on theedge region, in the landscape mode. The electronic device 500 maydetermine whether to recognize a touch, detected on the upper bezelregion 533 or the lower bezel region 531, as a touch input forcontrolling the electronic device 500 according to an arrangementorientation of the electronic device 500 (i.e., whether the electronicdevice is in a landscape mode or a portrait mode) and a size of each ofthe upper bezel region 533 and the lower bezel region 531.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an edge region set in adifferent manner for each touch mode or for each application accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. A touch screen 610 isdisposed on a front portion of an electronic device 600. The electronicdevice 600 also includes a bezel region including a left bezel region231, a right bezel region 233, an upper bezel region 235, and a lowerbezel region 237 shown in FIG. 2A, such that the bezel region connectswith the touch screen 610 and supports the touch screen 610.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 600 may not include a bezel region. For example, there may be nobezel region including the left bezel region 231 and the right bezelregion 233 shown in FIG. 2A at both side edges of the electronic device600. Also, a portion of an edge of the touch screen 610 and a portion ofthe bezel region that connects with the portion of the edge and supportsthe portion of the edge may be formed with a curved surface. Forexample, the electronic device 600 may have the same or similarconfiguration and shape as or to that of an electronic device of FIGS.2A and 2B or an electronic device 400 of FIGS. 4A and 4B.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 600 may set a region, which is within a predetermined distance inan inner direction of the touch screen 610 (i.e., a direction towards aninterior of the touch screen 610) from the bezel region, to an edgeregion. The electronic device 600 may set the edge region in a differentmanner according to a size of the bezel region or a shape of the touchscreen 610, and may set the edge region according to a touch mode or foreach application.

Referring to FIG. 6A, the electronic device 600 supports a one-handedtouch mode. The one-handed touch mode may be set such that a user isable to touch the electronic device 660 with only one hand. For example,the electronic device 600 may move display regions to a portion ofregion (e.g., a region that may be touched by only one hand) of a screenin the one-handed touch mode to display the display regions.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 600 may set only part of a region of the touch screen 610 to atouch function available region in the one-handed touch mode. Theelectronic device 600 may set a touch function available region of thetouch screen 610 to correspond to a portion of region of the screen onwhich display objects are moved in the one-handed touch mode. Forexample, if a region, except for the region of the screen on whichdisplay objects are moved in the one-handed touch mode, is touched, theelectronic device 600 may cancel the touch or may process the touch as anoise. In this regard, the electronic device 600 may receive bodyinformation (e.g., information corresponding to an area of user's palmor a length of user's finger, etc.) of the user from user to determine aregion that may be touched by user's one hand. Also, the electronicdevice 600 may guide the user to touch a region with one hand at leastonce and determine a region, which may be touched by the hand, accordingto information regarding regions touched by the user's hand.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the touch modeis set to the one-handed touch mode, the electronic device 600 may setan edge region including a left edge region 651 and a right edge region653 as only a lower region among both side edges of the touch screen610. The electronic device 600 may set a width of the edge region to berelatively broader than a width of an edge region set in a two-handedtouch mode. For example, in the one-handed touch mode, the user maytouch the touch screen 610 using user's thumb and may support a rearsurface of the electronic device 600 using the other fingers except forthe thumb. Therefore, there may be a case in which there is no touchregion including regions 271, 273, and 275 of FIG. 2A, that occurs as aresult of gripping the electronic device 600 with user's one hand in thetwo-handed touch mode, in the one-handed touch mode.

Also, a touch region 691 by a grip of the user may be limited to a lowerregion among both side edges of the touch screen 610 due to positions ofdisplay objects moved in the one-handed touch mode. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 600 may setthe edge region including the left edge region 651 and the right edgeregion 653 according to a set touch function available region. Forexample, the electronic device 600 may set the edge region to be thesame as the touch function available region, or may set the edge regionto part of the touch function available region, for example, an edge.

Referring to FIG. 6B, the electronic device 600 may display an on-screenkeyboard 670 on a portion of region of the touch screen 610. Theon-screen keyboard 670 is an input interface, may be a virtual inputpanel to be used instead of a physical input panel, and may beimplemented with software. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the electronic device 600 may display the on-screen keyboard670 on a lower region of the touch screen 610 to receive text such ascharacters, numbers, or symbols and images, such as emoticons, from theuser when user writes a message.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 600 may exclude a blank region including a left blank region 671and a right blank region 673 of the on-screen keyboard 670 from a touchfunction available region. In this case, the electronic device 600 mayset the blank region including the left blank region 671 and the rightblank region 673 to an edge region. The electronic device 600 may rejecta corresponding touch input if an unused region is touched by a gripoperation by setting the unused region to an edge region. Additionally,if an unused region is present among edges of the touch screen 610 foreach application, the electronic device 600 may set the region to anedge region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice 600 may display the on-screen keyboard 670 using the otherregions except for a predetermined edge region (e.g., an edge regionwhich is preset by the user or an edge region which is set automaticallyfrom a use pattern of user). For example, the electronic device 600 maychange a size, position, etc. of the on-screen keyboard 670 according toan edge region to display the one-screen keyboard 670.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice (e.g., an electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1) may recognize acontact form (e.g., a contact shape, a contact size, the number ofcontacts, etc.) between the user and the electronic device and mayprovide different functions according to the recognized contact form. Ifa first grip form is recognized, the electronic device may provide acorresponding first function. If a second grip form is recognized, theelectronic device may provide a corresponding second function. Theelectronic device may instead perform a predetermined function accordingto a kind of a grip, without executing a function associated with a menuor icon located on a region where a grip is detected. Additionally, theelectronic device may combine responses of a sensor (e.g., anacceleration sensor) and may designate a function according to a grip ofthe user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may be a wearable electronic device. The electronic device mayset a region, in which a body of the user is in contact with theelectronic device, to an edge region, if the user is wearing theelectronic device.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may be a device (e.g., a watch) worn on a user's wrist. If asingle input is detected through a bezel region (e.g., a touch sensitivehousing around a display), the electronic device may perform acorresponding function. If a plurality of inputs is detected through thebezel region, the electronic device may reject the plurality of inputs.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may process a detected touch input except for a grip of the userin a different manner according to a recognized grip form. If a firstgrip form is recognized, the electronic device may provide a firstfunction in response to a touch input recognized outside a region wherethe first grip form is recognized. For example, if a second grip form isrecognized, the electronic device may provide a second function, whichis different from the first function, in response to the touch inputrecognized outside a region where the second grip form is recognized. Ifa request for executing an application is verified, the electronicdevice may execute the corresponding application if the first grip formis recognized. However, the electronic device may not execute thecorresponding application or may request the user to perform additionalauthentication if the second grip form is recognized instead of thefirst grip form.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may change an authentication method, for accessing at least someof functions of the electronic device, according to a recognized gripform. The electronic device may request user to perform authenticationthrough a pattern lock. If the user grips the electronic device using asecond method, the electronic device may request user to performauthentication through user's fingerprint.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may determine whether a user's hand that is gripping theelectronic device is the user's right or left hand. The electronicdevice may set each edge region (e.g., a shape, a position, and a size)in a different manner according to whether the user grips the electronicdevice with user's left or right hand.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the electronicdevice recognizes that the user is gripping the electronic device, theelectronic device may move an icon, a menu, etc., located on a positioncorresponding to a touch input to another position. If a cameraapplication is executed, the electronic device may move an icon (e.g., aphotographing button) associated with the camera application to anotherposition according to a method of griping the electronic device.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if hovering isdetected above a region where there is the icon (e.g., the photographingbutton) associated with the camera application, the electronic devicemay move the corresponding icon to another position.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may include a touch screen configured to detect at least onetouch event and a processor configured to recognize a touch inputaccording to the at least one touch event. The processor may determinewhether to recognize the at least one touch event as the touch inputaccording to a distance between a location of the at least one touchevent and an edge of the touch screen.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the distance isincluded within a predetermined range, the processor may ignore the atleast one touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the distance isincluded within a predetermined range and if the at least one touchevent is detected for at least a predetermined duration, the processormay ignore the at least one touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least onetouch event may include a plurality of touch events. If the distance isincluded within a predetermined range, the processor may ignore theplurality of touch events.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a screen of theelectronic device is displayed in a landscape orientation, the processormay recognize the at least one touch event as the touch input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the distance isincluded within a predetermined range and if proximity of an externalobject to the electronic device is detected in connection with the atleast one touch event, the processor may ignore the at least one touchevent.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch screenmay include a bent region which forms at least part of a lateral surfaceof the electronic device. If the at least one touch event is detectedwithin the bent region, the processor may ignore the at least one touchevent.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least onetouch event may include a first touch event and a second touch event. Ifa distance between a location of the first touch event and a left edgeof the touch screen is included within a first range and if a distancebetween a location of the second touch event and a right edge of thetouch screen is included within a second range, the processor may ignorethe first touch event and the second touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor maydetermine whether to recognize the at least one touch event as a touchinput based on a kind of an application associated with the at least onetouch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a distancebetween the location of the at least one touch event and an edge of thetouch screen is included within a first range, the processor mayrecognize the at least one touch event as the touch input and perform afirst function corresponding to the touch input. If the distance isincluded within a second range, the processor may recognize the at leastone touch event as the touch input and perform a second functioncorresponding to the touch input.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating an electronicdevice associated with a touch processing method according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 7, in operation 710, an electronic device (e.g., anelectronic device 200 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B) verifies whether adisplay mode is a longitudinal mode (i.e., a portrait mode). If thedisplay mode is not the longitudinal mode (e.g., the display mode is alandscape mode), the electronic device may process an input touch as avalid input. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if atransverse length of the electronic device is structurally longer than alongitudinal length, the electronic device may further determine whetherthe display mode is the landscape mode. If the display mode is not thelandscape mode or the portrait mode, the electronic device may processan input touch as a valid input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, instead ofverifying the display mode in operation 710 and determining whether toperform reject processing according to the display mode, the electronicdevice may verify a size of a bezel region including a left bezel region231, a right bezel region 233, an upper bezel region 235, and a lowerbezel region 237 of FIG. 2A, and may determine whether a size of a bezelregion where a grip of the user is detected at least equal to apredetermined size. If the size of the bezel region is at least equal toa predetermined size, the electronic device may process an input touchas a valid input. The electronic device may omit an operation ofdetermining whether to perform reject processing according to thedisplay mode. For example, a method performed by the electronic devicemay omit operation 710 and instead start at operation 730.

In operation 730 the electronic device determines whether a touch isrecognized on an edge region, which includes the left edge region 251and the right edge region 253 of FIG. 2A. If a touch is not recognizedon the edge region, the electronic device may process the touch as avalid input. If the touch is recognized on the edge region, theelectronic device processes the touch differently according to apredetermined condition.

In operation 750, for example, the electronic device determines whetherat least a predetermined number simultaneous touches (e.g., at least twotouches) are detected. Additionally or alternatively, the electronicdevice may determine whether hovering is detected (e.g., whether thetouch is close to a touch screen or whether a value measured by aself-capacitance type is at least a predetermined value). According toan embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device maydetermine whether a touch area corresponding to the touch is at leastequal to a predetermined size. For example, the electronic device maycalculate a touch area according to a touch coordinate included in touchinformation. Alternatively, the electronic device may measure the numberof touched nodes that indicates points where electrodes including in thetouch screen are overlapped or connected each other corresponding to atouch coordinate and may determine whether the number of the touchednodes is at least a predetermined number of nodes.

If the predetermined number of touches is not detected on the edgeregion, and/or if the hovering is not detected above the edge region,the electronic device may process the touch as a valid input. Accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a touch areacorresponding to the touch is less than a predetermined size, theelectronic device may process the touch as a valid input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if at least thepredetermined number of touches is detected on the edge region or if thehovering is detected above the edge region, the electronic device mayverify a set edge region. If a touch area corresponding to the touch isgreater than or equal to a predetermined size, the electronic device mayverify a set edge region.

In operation 770, for example, the electronic device rejects at leastsome of the touches. For example, if a position of touch is includedwithin a touch rejection region, the electronic device may cancel thetouch or may process the touch as a noise. Alternatively, if theposition of the touch is included within the touch reject region, theelectronic device may initialize touch intensity corresponding to thetouch.

For example, if the position of the touch is included within a longpress reject region, the electronic device may determine whether thetouch is a long press touch. For example, the electronic device maymeasure duration of the touch relative to a time when the touch isinput. If the duration of the touch is a predetermined time or more(e.g., if the touch is the long press touch), the electronic device mayprocess the touch in a manner that would be the same as or similar toprocessing of a touch included within the touch reject region. Also, ifthe position of the touch is included within a multi-touch rejectregion, the electronic device may determine whether the touch is amulti-touch. For example, the electronic device may determine whether atleast the predetermined number of touches is detected. If the touch isthe multi-touch, the electronic device may process the touch to be sameas or similar to if the touch is included within the touch rejectregion.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a touch processingmethod of the electronic device may include detecting at least one touchevent through a touch screen functionally connected with the electronicdevice and determining whether to recognize the at least one touch eventas a touch input, according to a distance between a location of the atleast one touch event and an edge of the touch screen.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the distance isincluded within a predetermined range, the determining whether torecognize the at least one touch event as the touch input may includeignoring the at least one touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the distance isincluded within a predetermined range and if the at least one touchevent is detected for at least a predetermined duration, the determiningwhether to recognize the at least one touch event as the touch input mayinclude ignoring the at least one touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least onetouch event may include a plurality of touch events. If the distance isincluded within a predetermined range, the determining whether torecognize the at least one touch event as the touch input may includeignoring the plurality of touch events.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if a screen of theelectronic device is displayed in a landscape orientation, thedetermining whether to recognize the at least one touch event as thetouch input may include recognizing the at least one touch event as thetouch input.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, if the distance isincluded within a predetermined range and if proximity of an externalobject to the electronic device without contacting the electronic deviceis detected in connection with the at least one touch event, thedetermining whether to recognize the at least one touch event as thetouch input may include ignoring the at least one touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touch screenmay include a bent region that forms at least part of a lateral surfaceof the electronic device. If the at least one touch event is detectedwithin the bent region, the determining whether to recognize the atleast one touch event as the touch input may include ignoring the atleast one touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least onetouch event may include a first touch event and a second touch eventsuch that at least a portion of the first touch event and the secondtouch occur simultaneously. If a distance between a location of thefirst touch event and a left edge of the touch screen is included withina first range and if a distance between a location of the second touchevent and a right edge of the touch screen is included within a secondrange, the determining whether to recognize the at least one touch eventas the touch input may include ignoring the first touch event and thesecond touch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the determiningwhether to recognize the at least one touch event as the touch input mayinclude determining whether to recognize the at least one touch event asa touch input based on a kind of an application associated with thetouch event.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, acomputer-readable recording medium storing embodied thereoninstructions, when executed by at least one processor, for allowing theat least one processor to perform at least one operation, the at leastone operation including detecting at least one touch event through atouch screen functionally connected with an electronic device anddetermining whether to recognize the at least one touch event as a touchinput according to a distance between a location of the at least onetouch event and an edge of the touch screen.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice in a network environment according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure

An electronic device 801 is included in a network environment 800. Theelectronic device 801 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be an electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1. Theelectronic device 801 includes a bus 810, a processor 820, a memory 830,an input and output interface 850, a display 860, a communicationinterface 870, and a touch processing module 880. At least one of thecomponents may be omitted from the electronic device 801, and othercomponents may be additionally included in the electronic device 801.

The bus 810 may be, for example, a circuit which connects the components820 to 880 with each other and transmits communication (e.g., a controlmessage and/or data) between the components.

The processor 820 may include one or more of a central processing unit(CPU), an application processor (AP), or a communication processor (CP).For example, the processor 820 may perform calculation or dataprocessing about control and/or communication of at least another of thecomponents of the electronic device 801.

The memory 830 may include a volatile and/or non-volatile memory. Thememory 830 may store, for example, instructions or data associated withat least another of the components of the electronic device 801.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 830 mayinclude software and/or a program 840. The program 840 includes, forexample, a kernel 841, a middleware 843, an application programminginterface (API) 845, and an application program 847 (i.e., an“application”). At least part of the kernel 841, the middleware 843, orthe API 845 may be referred to as an operating system (OS).

The kernel 841 may control or manage, for example, system resources(e.g., the bus 810, the processor 820, or the memory 830, etc.) used toexecute an operation or function implemented in the other programs(e.g., the middleware 843, the API 845, or the application program 847).As the middleware 843, the API 845, or the application program 847accesses a separate component of the electronic device 801, the kernel841 may provide an interface that may control or manage systemresources.

The middleware 843 may operate as, for example, a go-between such thatthe API 845 or the application program 847 communicates with the kernel841 to communicate data.

Also, the middleware 843 may process one or more work requests receivedfrom the application program 847 according to a priority. For example,the middleware 843 may provide a priority that, in turn, provides systemresources (the bus 810, the processor 820, or the memory 830, etc.) ofthe electronic device 801 to at least one of the application program847. For example, the middleware 843 may perform scheduling or loadbalancing for at least one work request by processing the at least onework request according to the priority provided to the at least oneapplication program 847.

The API 845 may be, for example, an interface in which the applicationprogram 847 controls a function provided from the kernel 841 or themiddleware 843. For example, the API 845 may include at least oneinterface or function (e.g., an instruction) for file control, windowcontrol, image processing, or text control, etc.

The input and output interface 850 operate as, for example, an interfacewhich may transmit instructions or data input from a user or anotherexternal device to another component (or other components) of theelectronic device 801. Also, input and output interface 850 may outputinstructions or data received from another component (or othercomponents) of the electronic device 801 to the user or the otherexternal device.

The display 860 may include, for example, a liquid crystal display(LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED)display, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, or anelectronic paper display. The display 860 may display, for example, avariety of content (e.g., text, images, videos, icons, or symbols, etc.)to the user. The display 860 may include a touch screen, and mayreceive, for example, touch, gesture, proximity, or a hovering inputusing an electronic pen or part of a body of the user. A touch inputmodule 110 shown in FIG. 1 may include the input and output interface850 or the display 860 shown in FIG. 8.

The communication interface 870 may establish communication between, forexample, the electronic device 801 and an external device (e.g., a firstexternal electronic device 802, a second external electronic device 804,or a server 806). For example, the communication interface 870 mayconnect to a network 862 through wireless communication or wiredcommunication and may communicate with the external device (e.g., thesecond external electronic device 804 or the server 806).

The wireless communication may use, for example, at least one of longterm evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), code division multipleaccess (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), universal mobiletelecommunications system (UMTS), wireless broadband (WiBro), or globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), etc. as a cellular communicationprotocol. Also, the wireless communication may include, for example,local-area communication 864. The local-area communication 864 mayinclude, for example, at least one of wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi)communication, Bluetooth (BT) communication, near field communication(NFC), or global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication, etc.A GNSS may include, for example, at least one of a global positioningsystem (GPS), a Glonass, a Beidou navigation satellite system(hereinafter referred to as a “Beidou”), or a Galileo (i.e., theEuropean global satellite-based navigation system) according to anavailable area or a bandwidth, etc. Herein, the term “GPS” may be usedinterchangeably with the term “GNSS”. The wired communication mayinclude at least one of, for example, universal serial bus (USB)communication, high definition multimedia interface (HDMI)communication, recommended standard 232 (RS-232) communication, or plainold telephone service (POTS) communication, etc. The network 862 mayinclude a telecommunications network, for example, at least one of acomputer network (e.g., a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN)), the Internet, or a telephone network.

The touch processing module 880 may detect a plurality of user inputsthrough a surface which may recognize a touch and may modify (e.g.,reject) at least some of the plurality of user inputs according to aposition where the plurality of user inputs are detected. The touchprocessing module 880 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be the touch processing module 130 shown in FIG. 1.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the touchprocessing module 880 may be provided to be included in the processor820 or be independent of the processor 820.

Each of the first and second external electronic devices 802 and 804 maybe the same or a different type of device as the electronic device 801.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the server 806 mayinclude a group of one or more servers. According to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure, all or some of operations executed in theelectronic device 801 may be executed in another electronic device or aplurality of electronic devices (e.g., the first and second externalelectronic devices 802 and 804 or the server 806). According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, if the electronic device 801 is toperform any function or service automatically or according to a request,it may request another device, such as the first and second externalelectronic devices 802 and 804 or the server 806 to perform at leastpart of the function or service, rather than executing the function orservice for itself or in addition to the function or service. The otherelectronic device may execute the requested function or the addedfunction and may transmit the executed result to the electronic device801. The electronic device 801 may process the received result withoutchange or additional, and may provide the requested function or service.For this purpose, for example, cloud computing technologies, distributedcomputing technologies, or client-server computing technologies may beused by the electronic device 801 in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice 901 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Theelectronic device 901 may include, for example, all or part of anelectronic device 801 shown in FIG. 8. The electronic device 901includes at least one processor 910 (e.g., application processors(APs)), a communication module 920, a subscriber identification module(SIM) card 924, a memory 930, a sensor module 940, an input device 950,a display 960, an interface 970, an audio module 980, a camera module991, a power management module 995, a battery 996, an indicator 997, anda motor 998.

The processor 910 may drive, for example, an operating system (OS) or anapplication program to control a plurality of hardware or softwarecomponents connected thereto and may process and compute a variety ofdata. The processor 910 may be implemented with, for example, a systemon chip (SoC). According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, theprocessor 910 may further include a graphic processing unit (GPU) and/oran image signal processor. The processor 910 may include one or more(e.g., a cellular module 921) of the other components shown in FIG. 9.The processor 910 may load instructions or data received from at leastone of other components (e.g., a non-volatile memory) to a volatilememory to process the data and may store various data in a non-volatilememory.

The communication module 920 may have the same or similar configurationas a configuration of a communication interface 870 of FIG. 8. Thecommunication module 920 includes, for example, the cellular module 921,a wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) module 923, a Bluetooth (BT) module 925, aglobal navigation satellite system (GNSS) module 927 (e.g., a GPSmodule, a Glonass module, a Beidou module, or a Galileo module), a nearfield communication (NFC) module 928, and a radio frequency (RF) module929.

The cellular module 921 may provide, for example, a voice call service,a video call service, a text message service, or an Internet service,etc. through a communication network. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the cellular module 921 may identify andauthenticate the electronic device 901 in a communication network usingthe SIM card 924. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure,the cellular module 921 may perform at least a part of functions thatmay be provided by the processor 910. According to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the cellular module 921 may include a communicationprocessor (CP).

The Wi-Fi module 923, the BT module 925, the GNSS module 927, or the NFCmodule 928 may include, for example, a processor for processing datatransmitted and received through the corresponding module. According toan embodiment of the present disclosure, at least some (e.g., two ormore) of the cellular module 921, the Wi-Fi module 923, the BT module925, the GNSS module 927, or the NFC module 928 may be included in oneintegrated chip (IC) or one IC package.

The RF module 929 may transmit and receive, for example, a communicationsignal (e.g., an RF signal). The RF module 929 may include, for example,a transceiver, a power amplifier module (PAM), a frequency filter, or alow noise amplifier (LNA), or an antenna, etc. At least one of thecellular module 921, the Wi-Fi module 923, the BT module 925, the GNSSmodule 927, or the NFC module 928 may transmit and receive an RF signalthrough a separate RF module.

The SIM card 924 may include, for example, a SIM and/or an embedded SIM.The SIM card 924 may include unique identification information (e.g., anintegrated circuit card identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information(e.g., an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).

The memory 930 (e.g., a memory 830 of FIG. 8) may include, for example,an embedded memory 932 or an external memory 934. The embedded memory932 may include at least one of, for example, a volatile memory (e.g., adynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronousdynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.), or a non-volatile memory (e.g., a one-timeprogrammable read only memory (OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), anerasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable andprogrammable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a flash memory(e.g., a NAND flash memory or a NOR flash memory, etc.), a hard drive,or a solid state drive (SSD)).

The external memory 934 may further include a flash drive, for example,a compact flash (CF), a secure digital (SD), a micro-SD, a mini-SD, anextreme digital (xD), or a memory stick, etc. The external memory 934may functionally and/or physically connect with the electronic device901 through various interfaces.

The sensor module 940 may measure, for example, a physical quantity ormay detect an operation state of the electronic device 901, and mayconvert the measured or detected information to an electric signal. Thesensor module 940 includes, for example, a gesture sensor 940A, a gyrosensor 940B, a barometric pressure sensor 940C, a magnetic sensor 940D,an acceleration sensor 940E, a grip sensor 940F, a proximity sensor940G, a color sensor 940H (e.g., red, green, blue (RGB) sensor), abiometric sensor 940I, a temperature/humidity sensor 940J, anillumination sensor 940K, or an ultraviolet (UV) sensor 940M.

Additionally or alternatively, the sensor module 940 may furtherinclude, for example, an e-nose sensor, an electromyography (EMG)sensor, an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, an electrocardiogram (ECG)sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an iris sensor, and/or a fingerprintsensor, etc. The sensor module 940 may further include a control circuitfor controlling at least one or more sensors included therein. Accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronic device 901may further include a processor configured to control the sensor module940, as part of the processor 910 or to be independent of the processor910. While the processor 910 is in a sleep state, the electronic device901 may control the sensor module 940.

The input device 950 may include, for example, a touch panel 952, a(digital) pen sensor 954, a key 956, or an ultrasonic input unit 958.The touch panel 952 may recognize a touch input using at least one of,for example, a capacitive detecting method, a resistive detectingmethod, an infrared detecting method, or an ultrasonic detecting method.Also, the touch panel 952 may further include a control circuit. Thetouch panel 952 may further include a tactile layer and may provide atactile reaction to a user.

The (digital) pen sensor 954 may be, for example, part of a touch panelor may include a separate sheet for recognition. The key 956 mayinclude, for example, a physical button, an optical key, or a keypad.The ultrasonic input unit 958 may allow the electronic device 901 todetect a sound wave using a microphone 988 and to verify data through aninput tool generating an ultrasonic signal.

The display 960 may include a panel 962, a hologram device 964, or aprojector 966. The panel 962 may include the same or similarconfiguration as or to that of the display 860. The panel 962 may be,for example, flexible, transparent, or wearable. The panel 962 and thetouch panel 952 may be integrated into a single module. The hologramdevice 964 may show a stereoscopic image in a space using interferenceof light. The projector 966 may project light onto a screen to displayan image. The screen may be positioned, for example, inside or outsidethe electronic device 901. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the display 960 may further include a control circuit forcontrolling the panel 962, the hologram device 964, or the projector966.

The interface 970 includes, for example, a high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI) 972, a universal serial bus (USB) 974, an opticalinterface 976, or a D-subminiature 978. The interface 970 may beincluded in, for example, the communication interface 870 shown in FIG.8. Additionally or alternatively, the interface 970 may include, forexample, a mobile high definition link (MHL) interface, an SDcard/multimedia card (MMC) interface, or an infrared data association(IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module 980 may convert a sound into an electric signal, orvice versa. At least part of components of the audio module 980 may beincluded in, for example, an input and output interface 850 shown inFIG. 8. The audio module 980 may process sound information input oroutput through, for example, a speaker 982, a receiver 984, an earphone986, the microphone 988, etc.

The camera module 991 may capture a still image and video. According toan embodiment of the present disclosure, the camera module 991 mayinclude at least one image sensors (e.g., a front sensor or a rearsensor), a lens, an image signal processor (ISP), or a flash (e.g., anLED or a xenon lamp).

The power management module 995 may manage, for example, power of theelectronic device 901. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, though not shown, the power management module 995 mayinclude a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a charger IC or abattery gauge. The PMIC may have a wired charging method and/or awireless charging method. The wireless charging method may include, forexample, a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, or anelectromagnetic method, etc. An additional circuit for wirelesscharging, for example, a coil loop, a resonance circuit, or a rectifier,etc. may be further provided. The battery gauge may measure, forexample, the remaining capacity of the battery 996 and voltage, current,or temperature thereof while the battery 996 is charged. The battery 996may include, for example, a rechargeable battery or a solar battery.

The indicator 997 may display a specific state of the electronic device901 or part (e.g., the processor 910) thereof, for example, a bootingstate, a message state, or a charging state, etc. The motor 998 mayconvert an electric signal into mechanical vibration and may generatevibration or a haptic effect, etc. The electronic device 901 may includea processing unit (e.g., a GPU) for supporting a mobile TV. Theprocessing unit for supporting the mobile TV may process media dataaccording to standards, for example, a digital multimedia broadcasting(DMB) standard, a digital video broadcasting (DVB) standard, or amediaFlo™ standard, and etc.

The term “module”, as used herein, may refer to, for example, a unitincluding one of hardware, software, and firmware or two or morecombinations thereof. The term “module” may be interchangeably usedwith, for example, terminologies “unit”, “logic”, “logical block”,“component”, “circuit”, etc. The term “module” may refer to a minimumunit of an integrated component or a part thereof. The term “module” mayrefer to a minimum unit for performing at least one function or a partthereof. Herein, a “module” may be mechanically or electronicallyimplemented. For example, the term “module” may refer to at least one ofan application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or a programmable-logic devicethat is well known or will be developed in the future, for performingcertain operations.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least part ofthe electronic device (e.g., modules or the functions) or the method(e.g., operations) may be implemented with, for example, instructionsstored in a computer-readable storage media which has a program module.

Modules or program modules according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may include at least one or more of the above-mentionedcomponents, some of the above-mentioned components may be omitted, orother additional components may be further included. Operations executedby modules, program modules, or other components may be executed by asuccessive method, a parallel method, a repeated method, or a heuristicmethod. Also, some operations may be executed in a different order ormay be omitted, and other operations may be added.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronicdevice may prevent a touch input that is not intended to be processed bythe user, from occurring, and may prevent an error which may occur dueto the touch input that is not intended by user, by rejecting at least aportion of the touch input corresponding to the user's grip.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may enhance accuracy of input recognition by recognizing a userinput that is not intended by the user if the user input is detectedwithin a predetermined distance from an outer region of the electronicdevice.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the electronicdevice may increase touch function availability of a curved surfaceregion by selectively rejecting a touch input of the curved surfaceregion if a portion of region of the touch screen includes the curvedsurface region.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a touch processingmethod for determining whether a touch input is a touch by a grip of auser and rejecting the touch input if the touch input is the touch bythe grip, and an electronic device for supporting the same, areprovided.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a touchprocessing method for setting a portion of region of a touch screen toan edge region and selectively rejecting a touch input detected on thetouch screen according to the edge region, and an electronic device forsupporting the same, are provided.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a touchprocessing method for selectively rejecting a touch input of a curvedsurface region if a portion of region of a touch screen includes thecurved surface region, and an electronic device for supporting the same,are provided.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure is defined not by thedetailed description of the present disclosure, but by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a housingincluding one or more bezel areas; a touch screen having a display areasurrounded by edges, wherein at least first and second regions areincluded in the display area; and one or more processors configured to:obtain a touch information, wherein the touch information comprises atleast one of a touch coordinate and a touch duration; and determinewhether a touch event corresponding to the touch information is ignoredbased on the touch information, wherein the touch event is ignored whenthe touch event occurs in the first region formed within a firstdistance from at least one of the edges and it is determined whether thetouch event is ignored based at least on the touch duration of the touchinformation, when the touch event occurs in the second region formedwithin a second distance farther than the first distance from the atleast one of the edges excluding the first region.
 2. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the touch event is ignored when the touchevent occurs in the second region and the touch event is detected for atleast a predetermined duration.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the touch event is applied to an application associated with thetouch event when a screen of the electronic device is displayed in alandscape orientation.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein thetouch event is ignored when proximity of an external object to theelectronic device without contacting the electronic device is detectedin connection with the touch event.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the touch screen comprises a bent region that forms at leastpart of a lateral surface of the electronic device, and wherein the atleast first and second regions are included in the bent region.
 6. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine whether the touch event is ignored based on akind of an application associated with the touch event.
 7. A method inan electronic device, the method comprising: obtaining a touchinformation corresponding to a touch event that occurs in a touch screenhaving a display area surrounded by edges, wherein at least first andsecond regions are included in the display area, wherein the touchinformation comprises at least one of a touch coordinate and a touchduration; determining whether the touch event is ignored based on thetouch information, wherein the touch event is ignored when the touchevent occurs in the first region formed within a first distance from atleast one of the edges and wherein it is determined whether the touchevent is ignored based at least on the touch duration of the touchinformation, when the touch event occurs in the second region formedwithin a second distance farther than the first distance from the atleast one of the edges excluding the first region.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the touch event is ignored when the touch event occursin the second region and the touch event is detected for at least apredetermined duration.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the touchevent is applied to an application associated with the touch event whena screen of the electronic device is displayed in a landscapeorientation.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the touch event isignored when proximity of an external object to the electronic devicewithout contacting the electronic device is detected in connection withthe touch event.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the touch screencomprises a bent region that forms at least part of a lateral surface ofthe electronic device, and wherein the at least first and second regionsare included in the bent region.
 12. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising: determining whether the touch event is ignored based on akind of an application associated with the touch event.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing embodiedthereon instructions, when executed by at least one processor, forallowing the at least one processor to perform a method comprising:obtaining a touch information corresponding to a touch event that occursin a touch screen having a display area surrounded by edges, wherein atleast first and second regions are included in the display area, whereinthe touch information comprises at least one of a touch coordinate and atouch duration; determining whether the touch event is ignored based onthe touch information, wherein the touch event is ignored when the touchevent occurs in the first region formed within a first distance from atleast one of the edges, wherein it is determined whether the touch eventis ignored based at least on the touch duration of the touchinformation, when the touch event occurs in the second region formedwithin a second distance farther than the first distance from the atleast one of the edges excluding the first region.